Often, those who tread off the beaten path are misunderstood or mischaracterized and so we asked folks from the community to reflect and tell us about the times they’ve been misunderstood or mischaracterized.

Jeeper$

I know I’m “provocative” and I intend to be as much as I can. I’ve always appreciated disrupters in American society. I think in general we need to face the challenging and ‘uncanny’ more often instead of staying in the rails of what’s safe—ideas are never safe. I lean into a very specific line of rap and hip hop that prides itself on the explicit, shocking and funny. It’s not easy to gain an audience when you’re intentionally playing the villain. Even Eminem needed “Marshall Mathers” to balance the psychotic Slim Shady. Not that I really want to compare myself to Eminem by any means—but it’s to say, he still maintained a likable perspective in his music even during its more tortured and dark days. Read more>>

Maria Enomoto

I was once asked to fabricate a simple incense holder for a client to sell in their shop. I saw this as an opportunity to expand on what I had already been working on, and delivered the goods has requested. What seemed to be a simple transaction was not as it seemed. Months later, I receive an angry message from the client that they felt that I stole their idea and that I was unfairly profiting from their design by selling the incense holders to other people. When I attempted to clear the misunderstanding, they requested photographic proof that I had made these prior to when their request was made. I did not have “proof”, but I knew that this client was wrong. I dealt with weeks of regretting my previous communications by not acknowledging the fortuitous overlap in thinking of the same thing. Read more>>

Ethan Holland

I am a 21 year old person with autism who wasn’t diagnosed until I was 19. I was misunderstood my entire life, and I never really knew myself until I understood that small fact about me. The path forward in my life was always clear, my dedication was always strong but I never knew why. For a while I misunderstood myself more than anyone ever had, I felt lonely and different than everyone else around me because everyone else around me went out of their way to make it clear I was not the same as them. For the longest time I channeled this energy into trying to make things for others, I was the class clown, but not very funny, I was the tutor, yet not very good at teaching, then I was the actor, and finally I found something where people recognized me. Read more>>

Jovan Clark

For sure! I think most of my life I’ve been misunderstood so now I’m very much ok with it. As far as my arts go….starting off as a model in the industry & gaining a lot of traction with that, then transitioning to art it took a little while branding wise for people to catch up. I think a lot of the time people will see me and then apply a false perception / stereotype because of my image or the lifestyle they think I live. You just gotta have a conversation with me, & you’ll see I’m a very deep, loving, & creative soul. And my art is a reflection of that Read more>>

Stephen Barton

As a creative person it is often difficult to know how our work will translate to an audience.

Obviously positive and negative feedback is expected and healthy most of the time.

The thing I have struggled with is interpretation of my work.
It’s very common for someone to compare my work to other artists.

Sometimes that is good because the comparison is flattering and in line with my actual influences and inspirations. Read more>>

Jamillah Turner

Absolutely, my work has put me in positions to be misunderstood or even judged for how i choose to express myself creatively. I am secure in myself and open enough to do nude modeling and it really has been difficult navigating that starting out since it’s seen as “unconventional”. I received a lot of adversity at first, but as I keep going- I realize that I am finding more like-minded individuals thus opening up more opportunities for myself. If I choose to listen to what others say or allow it to slow me down, I wouldn’t have had the amazing opportunities to be published in the magazine I was published in, or even able to monetize off my self expression. Read more>>